Onion trimming machine



C. T. STAFFA UNION TRIMMING MACHINE April 26, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed July l5, 1957 T w 2 z V15 an l zw 5 n A. 2 E 7 e ,www 5 m m: m. M2

BYg/M/L April 26, 1960 c. T. STAFFA oNIoN TRIMMING MACHINE 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July l5, 1957 onrawb ZJ April 26, 1960 c. T. STAFFAoNIoN TRIMMING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July l5, 1957 l/ll 7%llllrl/ /flllf/llll/ mii nited States Patent O ONION TRIMMING MACHINEConrad T. Stala, Glenarm, Md.

Application July 15, 1957, Serial No. 671,814

2 Claims. (Cl. 146-83) This invention relates to the trimming of fruits,vege-V tables, etc. to remove unwanted portions thereof and has for itsprincipal object the provision of a machine of simple, rugged, eicientdesign particularly suited to the cutting off of both polar ends of anobject, for example the stem or stalk at the top of an onion and alsothe lower portion of the bulb including the roots and the bottom corewhich is of undesirable texture and sometimes detracts from the pleasanttaste of the onion.

A further object of the invention includes the provision of a constantlyrevolving, automatically fed, main carrier in which the onions aresecurely held while both ends are simultaneously being trimmed. The termonion as used here and in the claims shall be understood to be genericrather than specific and therefore to include not only beets, turnipsand other vegetables having a r'oot portion and a stem portion but suchfruits as pineapples, lemons, etc, where it is sometimes desired to cutolf both end portions.

A still further object of the invention is to devise a novel manner ofresiliently holding onions in the pockets of a main carrier and forpositively ejecting an onion that might remain wedged in a pocket afterthe pocket has passed such resilient holding means and would otherwisebe free to drop to a receiver, such as an endless belt or a receptacle.

Other objects of the invention are as set forth in the claims andinclude the relative positioning of the initial hopper, the intermediatecircular carriage for pre-positioning the onions, and the cutting wheelor carrier in which the onions are held while being trimmed by cuttersdriven independently of the driving mechanism which rotates the threereceptacles as well as the ejectors for transferring the onions from thehopper to the cari riage and from the carriage to the cutting wheel orcarrier.

In the drawings: Figure l is a side elevation with some parts broken 'iaway;

Figure 2 is an end elevation;

Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of the hopper;

Figure 4 is an enlarged central section thereof;

Figure 5 is a further enlarged side view of a portion of the carrier;

Figure 6 is an enlarged transverse section through a pocket; and

Figure 7 is an enlarged transverse section between pockets.

The principal parts of the machine are a hopper or feed selector 10, anintermediate carriage 11, a carrier l2 and a cutting mechanism 14, thelatter being driven entirely independently of the three namedreceptacles, the first two of which are driven at the same speed whilethe carrier having half the number of pockets is preferably driven attwice the revolutions per minute of the other two receptacles. The mainshaft 20 is preferably upright as illustrated, being mounted in a lowerbearing 21 resting on the frame base 22 as by a pair of angle irons 23and by an upper bearing 24 in the superstruc ture supporting theintermediate carriage 11 and other mechanism.

The motive power for the main shaft 20 is supplied through a pinion 25which could be driven directly from a motor but preferably is driven bya variable speed reduction gear unit 26 mounted on the base 22 and hav'-ing the usual speed selector wheel 27 in the rear. Any other variablespeed reduction gear would be equally suitable and I nd that a reductionin speed of six to one gives probably the best results, the drivingpinion 25 having a ratio of one to two with the bevel gear V28 keyed tothe shaft 20. A similar bevel gear 29 drives the pinion 30 on auxiliaryshaft 31 in suitable bearings 32 in the superstructure and shaft 31 iskeyed to or otherwise secured to the carrier 12. The intermediate orprepositioning carriage 11 is likewise keyed or otherwise secured tomain shaft 20.

A sloping driven shaft 35 receives power from the main shaft 20 by meansof two meshing gears 36 and 37 of the same size. The angle betweenshafts 26 and 35 is preferably 36, this angle being fairly critical, asa variation of as little as four degrees has been found to give lesssatisfactory results. Above the upper bearing 3S supported indirectly bymembers 39, which form part of the frame, is a relatively heavy metalplate 40 against which the feed selector hopper 1) rotates, being fastto the shaft 35 and supported by a plurality, preferably six, ofcircumferentially spaced anti-friction bearings 13 of well known type inwhich a large central ball supports a ring of much smaller balls in acaster housing. Other forms of bearings for this hopper would beperfectly satisfactory but this particular type gives excellent servicewhether the hopper bottom be at a considerable angle, as is receptacle10, or whether it be horizontal as is receptacle 11, the intermediatecarriage.

Referring particularly to Figures 3 and 4, the metal plate 40 whichsupports the feed selector hopper 1G forms the bottom of all but one ofthe recesses in the hopper and consequently prevents any object in arecess falling until it reaches the cutaway portion 44 in the bed plate4i). Such cutaway portion is directly beneath the recess which hasarrived at position 42 at the highest point and diametrically oppositerecess position 43 which is at the lowest point. Onions dumped into thehopper are supported by fairly high ange 45, preferably tapered inwardas at 46 near the top of the hopper'so as to avoid .the possibility ofonions riding over the top of the ange near recess 43.

The angle of tilt of the bottom 47 of the hopper is such that the onionsgravitate toward the lowest recess 43 and by the time a recess reaches aposition such as 4S the onions are roughly one to a pocket, but onpassing this position the desired one to a pocket arrangement is insuredby a restricting means 5i) which brushes any extra onions back towardthe lower end as the bottom of the hopper'is slightly -greater than theangle of repose and insures that each of the recesses Vfrom 48 up to 42at the top contains only a single onion.

Each of the recesses is exactly the same size and this is preferably11/2.l wide and 21/2 long, the long axis being radial. Each recess has arounded portion 52 toward the center of the receptacle, has at parallelsides 53, and is bounded circumferentially by the continuous flange 45.On the inside the recess is bounded by a iiange 55 extending downwardfrom the bottom 47 around to the continuous flange 45, being integralwith both. A non-essential provision, but a very convenient one, is acone or cap 56 centrally positioned above the hub 58 of the hopper. Thiscap aids in urging unpocketed onions toward the low end and into avacant recess.

The number of pockets is preferably twice an odd ,pocket- V `3 number,myv preference being to have twenty-twopockets in each hopper. Arestricting means of any type, here shown as an ordinary bristlebrush50, is shown at the far v.sidesupported by an .iron strap v59 securedsin any man- Kpushes the .Oninout YO f pocket A4.2 when .thatpofketjs.directly pver the space 44. A very ,smplsleiectns'ds- :vice would he a.mere Snider with proiectipusittne Y.cnnsecutively into Vrecesses but .Iprefer t0 munt a ,truncated ,sans 26.2 Qn-ashaft 6 3 .Carriedbv2n'el1hrackst1a64-fest .tothe uppertrame member 65 On `the .cone 62there .are sa ,Dumber .of lprojections 66 evenly. vspaced around theperiphery ofthe cone so that each in turn kengages a .recess in thehopper. YI prefer these .projections 66 to be :angularly yslanted soythat vthey will ube perpendicular to the bed .47` vwhen the projectionengages the flange 53 .of `the `hopper recess. lalso much prefer to dishout the top of Vth'evprojection 66 as.at-67 in Yelliptical form of acshape lto engage fairly snugly the surface of the un- `trimmed onion.The ejector 62 is driven solely by its contact with the hopper.

The intermediate or pre-positioned carriage 11 is al- ,most exactly thesame shape and size as the hopper with two exceptions, one that theupper portion 45-46 of the Y 4main flange is omitted, as by the time theonions are transferred from the hopper 10 to the carriage `11 there Visyonly one onion to a pocket and the carriage is Vhorijzontal. ,Theotherslight dierence is .that the restrictmeans, Aherejnumbered 70isonthenear side, as seen ,in Fig. 1, vand the vbrushin this case is roughlyparallel to the path of the onions as thecarriage rotates in oppositedirection Yto the hopper so that the onions travel in the near pocketsonly of the carriage. AThe, brush 70 flips the Vonion into exactlythe/correct position so that the onion lies on its side with one polarend extending ftoward the center and the other end, whether stalk orroot portionbeing immaterial, `extending in the other direction. Theejector in this case isnumbered 71 merely forconvenienceof reference asit isexactly the same as ejector 62 although itsrnounting onjits own`shaft 72 is .pr,eferably Vby meansu of a bracket 73 ,at the top `ofiframemember 74.

I havezsometinies.found that it Vis better to make `the recesses in thecarriage al bit wider than those in the hopper; for example, VI have hadexcellent success with .pockets of the same radial Vsize`21/2" but 1%wide in the carriage and in jone caseeven 2" wide. A,creased width oftherecesses ,in the carriage is to take v,care of anyV possible change ofangle of the long axis of the onioniniallingY from pocket 42 to thepocketvjust j beneath, this pocketforconvenience being numbered 86.

"The projection `66 oli-ejector 71 pushes the onion only ,fa shortdstancejinto the recess 'in thecutting wheel yor carrier 12, thepocketin whichnis 11A/z" in diameter with alength ofZA".

'The carrier 12, as best seen in Fig.v 2, is a cutting wheel s hownwitheleven pockets, each being of the shape shown in Fig. 6 which is aradial section through a The carrier turns clockwise as seen in Fig. .2at about 32 rpm and receives an onion from carriage 11 Aat'position 80.The onion stays in the pocket by gravity to the nearest position shownat 81 at which time the untrimmed onion is resiliently held in thebottom of its AVpocketby an endless belt 82 passing over idle wheels'83, 84, and v85, each contoured to fit the crowned central portion 86of the carrier. The belt S2 engages the cary,rier V12 almost to .itslowerk point, position 88 for example,

AThe inand below this position there is a contoured driving wheel 99 onshaft' 91 'driven`from jack shaft`31 by sprocket wheels 92 and 9,3 sothat the belt travels at about 126 feet per minute. The driving wheel 90is of considerable importance as, if this wheel were an'idler andreliance were placed solely on the frictional contact of the belt andthe carrier, there would be danger of jamming, whereas with the driveshown a very smooth operation is had, the peripheral -speed of thecarrier being identical with the speed of the belt.

The cutting mechanism consistssof twol disks 95 spaced in accordanceWith the VVsize of the vonionto be cut, about 1%6 for a 11/2" diameteronion, and mounted on a shaft 96 which 'is the armatureiofmotor 9Sbolted to a support 99 pivoted as at 100 to the upright main framemember 1&1. The knives 95 are of the same size and may be eithersharpened disks or the disks may be serrated to Vform ,saw teeth..hsmptr .981s sntrdyiadevpendent A 15 the mechanism ,for ldrivns the,ether portions of the machins Yand the psnsttstisnhf the .slittingdisks A95 `into the carrier 1721s adjusted by means of'larmanual lockingwheel 103 ywhich binds a rlink 104 fast to the motorA support 99 .to `a`bracket 105 fast to the upright li. Y

VReferring to Figures 5, 6, .and 7, ythe carrier H12 is Ya wheel havingvtwo outer rims or margins 1.06 `and 1.07. Sloping walls 108 leadrdownfromthejrimsto'the crowned portion 86 which is engaged ,bytbebeltjSZg Atthe two junctions Vthere Yare parallel deep kerfs 110 to receive theknives 95 which Aare spaced to iit ,in these "two'kerfs which extenddeeper Ythan the .points of'intersection with the pocket surface.yBetween theukerfs '11() there is a central kerf V 111 .which preferably`isexactly the same radial vdepth as ,thebottom of the PQQketalthoughrit may, if kdesired,lberslightly deeper. lfhef'function ofthecentral kerf 111 is solely toreceivc 7^apknoker or other .objectreleasing means 11.4, "1111s. dsYCemaybs-asimpls spring prssssdnssr,mounted-,041 :hQriZQntsl ber 11,5 0f

the frame with its @intestine-.veryseuils/ in the bett@ 0f the ,groove.111 solltet shwld an OnQn @meschina position Sbe jammed in its pocketYfor any reason and nnot fall as this pocketpassesto the leftjofthebelt7 it will be ejected from the pocket by 'the' *knocker` 114 sothat it lwill nevertheless fallinto the. waitingY receptacle,

diagrammatically shown esami! L13 .but Whislritllpractice would,generally be a conveyor ,belt for carrying the trimmed onions to'another location f or subsequenthan` dling- A.Because ef thssroweingQftheissmralrertsn ,the belt .'82 toslip ,sideways s0 that vit mighttonal?!v a .Saw ,0r knife 49.5 .es it assess intoeilierf 1110- 'Ille.belt rides centrally 4v,over kerf A,111 but thiskerf is not used untilthe pockets are entirely ifree ofthe belt.

As best seen in Fig. 6 the pockets .are ellipsoidal,

Yhaving .a ,short .diameter Qf r11/2." and e 10aa diameter 0f i.e.Athere isrno occasion fonrallpof the stalks to project in the samedirection. A convenient dameterjlfor lthe ,carrier is, 15" and theoverall width*ofthe,carrieresV 121 The 'kerfs V110 can be as smallv asV20 `in widthdbut l ,prefer to havethetcntral kerfquiteAappreciablyfwider,

08 being ample, however. Y

The operation of the device is asjfollows: Partially prepared onions aredumped yintothe-hopt'rere'lll land move by gravity toward the lowerend,` filling the-recesses injthat: neighborhood,`i.e. at the' lowerend. The hopper rotates to carry.thepocketed onions awayfromtheobserverand therecessespass under-brush'tt whichinsuresthat norecess` shallbe'occupied'bytwo onions. jQn reaching the hopper position42 ar projection 66fextending from ejector 62 pushes the onion from itspocket through an opening 44 in the supporting base plate 40 which doesnot revolve. The onion is therefore passed from recess 42 in the hopperto recess 7 6 in the carriage 11 a bit below. Here the onion passestoward the observer, in Fig. l, so that it is brought under the brush7i). This brush flips the onion into accurate position so that its longdimension corresponds to the long dirnention of the recess, On reachingthe right hand side of the machine the ejector 71 pushes the oniondirectly below into a pocket 80 (Fig. 2). The pocketed onion issupported by gravity through a small angle and it then is met by thebelt 82 constantly revolving at the same linear speed as the carrier`12. After the pocketed onion has passed the slight bit over 90 in thecarrier, it is trimmed by two rapidly revolving parallel blades 95 whichcut oi both ends of the onion. The onion travels an additional 90 whichbrings it out of contact with the belt S2 and the trimmed oniontherefore drops to the Waiting receptacle 118 which usually is anendless conveyor belt. If by any chance the onion should be jammed in apocket and will not fall by gravity, it is pushed out of the pocket by`an ejector 114 which rides in a groove or kerf in the center of thecarrier 12.

What l claim is:

l. In an onion trimming mechanism the combination of a rotatablecircular carrier having in its periphery a pair of circumferential kerfsand a plurality of spaced ellipsoidal pockets, each with its longer axisparallel to the carrier axis, opening to the carrier periphery, saidkerfs each intersecting the pockets and extending radially deeper thanthe points of intersection with the pocket surface means for rotatingthe carrier, rotating cutting disks extending into the kerfs to severthe polar ends of objects held in the pockets, a belt passing betweenthe disks to engage a portion of the carrier periphery to hold theobjects in the pockets, said belt having a Width approximating thedistance between the disks, and the portion of the carrier engaged bythe belt is crowned to eliminate lateral shifting or" the belt towardeither disk.

2. The combination of claim l in which the belt engages the carrierperiphery through an angle of between 30 and 170 and is pulley-driven atthe same peripheral speed as the carrier, and has a third kerf betweenthe two herfs to receive the cutting mechanism, said third kerf beingcentrally located and of a radial depth approximately that of thebottoms of the pockets, the axis of the carrier is horizontal, the beltdriving pulley is nearly directly below the carrier axis so an object ina pocket passing the driving pulley may fall by gravity, andobject-releasing means engaging the third kerf to force out an objectstuck in a pocket which has passed the driving pulley.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 437,853Craver Oct. 7, 1890 1,220,684 Ray Mar. 27, 1917 1,935,408 Marino et al.Nov. 14, 1933 2,187,233 Gamer et al. Jan. 16, 1940 2,494,914 Urschel etal. Jan. 17, 1950 2,571,531 Bridge Oct. 16, 1951 2,638,949 Bevins et a1May 19, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 170,524 Great Britain Oct. 27, 1921

